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Title: Elektra
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I saw an Elektra movie coming a mile away. It wasn't too hard to figure out that Elektra would soon be the star of her own movie, seeing as how Fox literally set her up for her own movie by including the Elektra character in "Daredevil" (and boasting her role so much that she was just as big a star as Daredevil himself was). I liked the way Elektra was portrayed in "Daredevil." Jennifer Garner had the looks, the moves, and even some heart and emotion that made the Elektra character very likable in "Daredevil." Elektra ended up being a hit with the girls who went to see "Daredevil" (the ones who were dragged into the theater by their boyfriends, most likely), so the only question wasn't will an Elektra movie be made, but rather when will it be made? Well, the wait is over, as "Elektra" is now rolling across theaters all over the States (and soon in foreign countries). Was it worth the wait and does it match up to "Daredevil" in terms of quality? Unfortunately, that answer is no, as "Elektra" falls quite a bit short in many ways, most noticeably in the story.
If you've seen "Daredevil" before, then I'm here to tell you that the Elektra you saw in that movie is not to be found here. Oh sure, she's still got looks, smarts, moves, and she's still played by Jennifer Garner; however, in this movie Elektra is a mystical warrior instead of a normal girl who just happened to be a good fighter. We find out that Elektra was killed at one point in her life (for more details, watch "Daredevil") and that she has been revived by a man by the name of Stick (comic book lovers will remember Stick as the blind martial artist who trained Daredevil... ironic, really). Stick trains Elektra but sends her away after awhile because she knows "nothing but hate and violence" in her heart. Elektra cries that she has nowhere to go (which means that her relationship with Daredevil mustn’t have been very serious after all). Now that Elektra has been kicked off the island of her kin and has nowhere to go, Elektra becomes what all fallen superheroes become: an assassin for hire (how original). Elektra does her work without hesitation, but when she is asked to kill a single father and his daughter after getting to know them... she aborts the mission and helps save their lives instead. Once their lives are saved, Elektra finds out that the people who hired her to assassinate the father and daughter were a "secret" organization called The Hand, and they want the daughter dead because she has a secret hidden power that they would like to unleash. When Elektra fails, The Hand's leader sends his son and his homies to dispose of Elektra themselves, and by the time we get to this point in the story you'll find yourself too confused to really be able to comprehend anything else that's going on.
"Elektra" is, technically, a well-made film. The action sequences are excellent, the enemies all look very cool and creepy, the fights and colors have all had a lot of thought put into them, yet the story goes so far into left field that the viewer just doesn't care after awhile. When the film begins, you get the sense that this could be a very good movie. The movie has a cool intro, the sets and costumes are stylish and attractive, and the action is very good. However, the movie falls victim to its own story and contradictions. As mentioned above, the story itself isn't bad when it starts out, it’s just that as the movie goes on, the twists that pop up are either confusing, stupid, or too silly to take seriously. At times, the twists even make things very confusing, and it just becomes a chore to keep up with everything when there are very few things you can actually keep track of. Another problem that sucks you out of the movie is the characters’ personalities. While Elektra was a character who had a lot of personality in "Daredevil," in this movie Elektra's personality is all one-sided, and instead of having multiple layers for her personality, she's, more or less, always annoyed in this movie (maybe she got to compare her paycheck to Ben's). The members of The Hand are all cool looking and have some pretty nifty fighting moves, but aside from that we learn nothing about the personalities of the characters or even so much as what their ultimate goal is. The father and daughter are just as equally hollow, with the father not doing much of anything and the daughter just being more of a pain in the butt than anything. Stick is nothing more than a mysterious teacher, but you'd think he would at least have a reason for letting all of his students practice martial arts while wearing Nike sneakers.
As you can see, whoever wrote the script for "Elektra" didn't have a knack for character development. Of course, he also doesn't have a knack for continuity, either. If you are someone who is going to be seeing "Elektra" without having seen "Daredevil" and you are worried you will be lost in the story, then you can breath a sigh of relief because this movie almost completely ignores everything that happened in the "Daredevil" movie. While the movie does mention that Elektra was killed (and then brought back to life in this movie), the movie fails to mention how she was killed in the first place. The movie never brings up Elektra's past life, her father is played by someone completely different in this film, and why Elektra doesn't seem to remember her relationship with Matt Murdock in "Daredevil" is extremely frustrating at best. New people most likely won't think to ask any questions about these things (choosing instead to ogle at Elektra's boobs), but people who have seen "Daredevil" will want to be asking Elektra in this movie what the heck is wrong with her. Plus, why is it that Elektra has a close relationship with her father in "Daredevil," yet in this movie she despises him and what he put her through? I can understand that the filmmakers were probably worried that connecting this movie too much with "Daredevil" may cause newcomers to be in the dark too much; however, by that same token, fans of "Daredevil" are now in the dark, and the last thing you want to do is alienate your fan base.
The best recommendation for this movie, though, is that "Elektra" is better than "Catwoman," MUCH better! But (and I know this is cliché writing) that's not saying an awful lot. I'm glad that "Elektra" was made, but by the same token I think that some fine-tuning with the script could have resulted in a far better movie. But if you watch this movie without taking it seriously, you may find that the film does have some camp value that is hard to resist. It's just a shame that the best thing people can say about it is that the movie was fun to laugh at.
- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -